Foodie Friday

I had planned on discussing the issue of school lunches in the U.S. a bit today, but I'm running a little short on time since this afternoon I'm off to a going-away party for a friend who's leaving for Afghanistan next week. So, instead I will share with you some of my favorite food blogs. I can't be the only one who stares at pretty pictures of food for the fun of it! (And then drools on my keyboard, naturally.)


Tastespotting
This is one of the best food sites out there. It works like a catalog of good recipes out there on the interwebs. Each photo links to a blog where the recipe is posted.



Love and Olive Oil
Homemade Girl Scout cookies?!? COME ON, that's amazing. Amazing.



101 Cookbooks
Heidi Swanson is also the author of one of the prettiest cookbooks in the whole world, Super Natural Cooking.



17 and Baking
I only wish I was this talented as a 17 year old. I am so inspired by talented teenagers. Especially ones who can bake. Because, frankly, I'm not so talented when it comes to oven-baked goods. A prime example is the undercooked cinnamon bread incident of 1996, of which only my little brother would eat the bread that was still raw dough in the middle. And he ate the whole loaf. I promise I was not trying to kill him with salmonella.

Longing

It's obvious that someone has spring fever and is ready for some summer lovin', yes?

Fresh fruit. Sunshine. Wind in your hair. Blossoms. Driving with the windows down. Dresses. Green. Taking walks. Beaches. Farmer's markets. Road trips. Picnics. Blue skies. Bare feet. T-shirts. Long days. Clear nights. Vacations. Fireflies.


Images are all from my Flickr favorites. Image Credits: 1. Untitled, 2. malven, 3. Untitled, 4. Raspberries, 5. *Duo, 6. Summer, please return

Ditto.

Image via FFFFOUND.

Weekend Recap

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! My weekend involved:

- Dinner at our favorite local Mexican restaurant for my husband's birthday on Friday
- A Barnes and Noble date
- Discovering many new, wonderful craft books especially this one and this one and this one (which has a wonderful message applicable to more than mothers alone--the importance of making time and space for yourself to create)
- Rooibos tea and blueberry scones
- Free tickets to the Museum of Science and Industry, which was my first time visiting the museum since grade school (Favorite exhibits-- "YOU! The Experience" and "Fast Forward: Inventing the Future")
- Friends coming over to watch the big game (and the big WIN! which I celebrate even though I did not watch the majority of the game, due to my sports-induced ADD)
- Deep dish pizza from Giordano's and root beer
- Finally getting our insurance cards!! You know you are an adult when you celebrate being insured. How sad.

Fun weekend, but I'm ready for spring, how about you?

Foodie Friday, Part II

Continuing from my previous post, I have also come across many neat products that really help with the "reduce" category in the mantra "reduce, reuse, recycle," so I thought I'd share them here. And as a strong supporter of handmade goods and crafters, many of these items can be bought on Etsy!

1. Reusable produce bags. It has already become popular to use reusable shopping totes, but you can take it one step further and eliminate the plastic bags used for produce. Etsy seller Love For Earth sells a wide array of nylon and mesh bags to hold your fruits and veggies.



2. Sandwich wraps or sandwich bags. Rather than using a plastic baggie one time for your sandwich or snack and then throwing it away, consider using a fabric bag with a waterproof lining. Etsy seller Country Life Naturals repurposes vintage tea towels to make her sandwich/snack bags.


Another version is the sandwich wrap, which can double as a placemat while you eat.
This one is made by Kid Konserve and offered by Reusablebags.com.


3. Containers for leftovers. When eating out at a restaurant, do you ever think about how many styrofoam containers they must go through every night for those people that want to take their leftovers home? I started to be bothered by this thought, so I try and keep a container in my purse so that I can put my leftovers in something that won't end up in the garbage. It's definitely hard to remember sometimes, but every time I do it helps a little bit. We probably all have a pile of plastic Glad containers at home that could be used, or you could get something like a stainless steel container (which doesn't leach plastic chemicals into food).

For example, this container is available at Reusablebags.com.


Next week, I will continue on this topic by sharing some of what I have learned about the public school lunch program (in terms of health and the environmental impact). It's pretty horrific.

Foodie Friday, Part I

This might not seem like a food post at first, but hear me out; I'll get there! And stay tuned for Part II.

I am really passionate about the environment and living sustainably. I'm psycho about recycling--don't ever try and throw away a toilet paper tube in MY house! This attitude definitely crosses over into my artwork, where I use a lot of recycled materials like cardboard from packaging, security envelopes (which have beautiful patterns on the inside), old magazines, used postage stamps and more.

But if we think back to the trifecta we learned in grade school, "reduce, reuse, recycle," it seems as though I am hitting on recycle and reuse, but the one that holds the biggest power to improve our environment is "reduce." Less stuff means less waste-- easy-peasy, right? But in an era of consumption and consumerism, this can be a challenge.

I see this clearly in terms of the food we eat. We are marketed the latest flavor of chips, fast food specials, bottled sodas and water, pre-packaged convenience foods. The list goes on and on. And each of these items comes wrapped in foil bags, plastic bottles, styrofoam containers--all of which end up in the trash almost as soon as they are bought. But think about those foods that nourish our bodies the most--those beautiful fruits and vegetables, and even whole grains and nuts (especially if bought in bulk). There's a lot less packaging with them, isn't there? So it's not only doing our bodies good, but doing the planet good.

One of the best things my husband and I ever did was join a CSA, or "Community Supported Agriculture." This is a wonderful program offered by many small farms where individuals buy shares at the beginning of the farming season in exchange for a large box of seasonal, fresh, local vegetables either weekly or bi-weekly that is delivered to a pick up location right in our town. We joined through King's Hill Farm in southern Wisconsin. We loved supporting a small farm, receiving the fresh and delicious produce, and expanding our culinary creativity by using ingredients we had never tried before. And there was virtually zero waste, as the boxes used for vegetables were returned to the farm. A picture of a typical box is at the top of this post. To learn about CSA's near you, visit the Local Harvest website.

Stay tuned for Part II, where I'll share a few products that might make environmentally friendly eating a little easier.

We're famous!

Not really. But our wedding is currently being featured in The Knot Chicago magazine's Spring/Summer 2010 issue. We went browsing at Barnes and Noble this weekend, and I happened to see that the magazine is now in stores. I have to admit I had to stop myself from turning to every person in the magazine aisle and saying, "LOOK! It's me!" We already have three copies of the magazine, but I contemplated buying about 5 more because my family seems pretty excited to have their own. They are cute.


Now, I'm not complaining, because, heck, I'm IN A MAGAZINE, but they made our love story sound SUPER cheesy (I suppose that's a requirement for a mainstream wedding magazine). I wish they would have shown a few more of the unique details, but being as though we DIY-ed most of the wedding, I don't think that aligns with the big-budget over-the-top styling that the wedding industry likes to promote. Somebody seriously needs to come out with a DIY wedding magazine. The new online mag Nonpareil comes close.


PS - A little self-promo... I also designed all of the paper items at the wedding, which was mis-captioned in the credits.

Photos courtesy of The Knot.

Love

I've never been a fan of Valentine's Day. To me, it's just another commercial holiday created to sell greeting cards and chocolates and trinkets to express sentiments that should be communicated year round to all those you love. And those conversation hearts taste like chalk. Blech.

But sometimes I wonder if my cynicism at the holiday sometimes extends to love itself. I find myself rolling my eyes at romantic movies and the twitterpated young couples I see sharing their public displays of affection. You might expect this from a single gal who is a bit bitter about these lovey-dovey acts, but I am a girl happily married to a very cool guy. So there's no reason that I should look at love this way. Love IS an amazing thing, and if you look closely it truly is all around you.

In honor of yesterday's Valentine's Day, I give you a list of things that make my heart swell.

* happy dogs * backrubs from my hubby * cards from friends with touching messages inside * old people holding hands * babies laughing * my husband sharing his food with me * taking walks together * picnics * this print and this print I just bought from Etsy, because it pretty much sums up our lives together * seeing our wedding photos in a magazine at the bookstore this weekend * hugs * when the kitty crawls in my lap to sleep * a little bit of sunshine (finally!) * conversations over tea *

Happy belated Valentine's day. I hope you feel and celebrate the love year round.

The above painting was a personal exercise that was (closely) inspired by the Kelly Rae Roberts and Mati Rose collaboration seen here. There's a link in the description to a pretty cool time-lapse video of the painting in progress.

Foodie Friday

As my blog header suggests, food and cooking are certainly a large part of my creative life. The kitchen is as much a place for me to create as the studio, and cookbooks are as inspiring as design blogs. With knives and spatulas as my paintbrushes, I'm able to chop and dice and mix and experiment my way to a new edible creation. Which brings us to Foodie Friday, where I hope to share some of my adventures and stories from the kitchen.

Lately, I have been cooking almost exclusively vegetarian and vegan food. There are a number of reasons for this, but you will find no proselytizing here. It boils down to: it's good for your body and good for the planet, so how can you argue with that? It has been a beautiful challenge--there is certainly something to be said for the color and saturation that vegetables bring to one's cooking--color without artificial dyes, color that can only be found in nature.

The salad below has to be one of the prettiest dishes you can make. Best served in the summertime using seasonal and local cabbage, I am presenting it now for no other reason that I need to see some color other than the white snow that we are buried in!


Purple Cabbage Salad
Salad
3/4 to 1 head of purple cabbage, shredded
1/3 cup scallions, chopped
1 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1 package ramen noodles, uncooked and crushed into small pieces.

Dressing
4 Tbs. brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. Better Than Bouillon No-Chicken Base
1/4 tsp. salt
4 Tbs. red or white wine vinegar
1 Tbs. orange juice
1 tsp garlic powder

Mix all salad ingredients except for ramen noodles in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix all dressing ingredients. Pour dressing over salad and mix to combine. Refrigerate for 15 minutes for the flavors to meld. Immediately before serving, pour crushed ramen noodles over the salad. (Do not do this step in advance of serving or the noodles will get soggy). Serves 6.

Note: You can also add carrots, mandarin oranges, diced red pepper, etc. There is also an easier dressing that is made by using the ramen flavoring packet, but as this is very high in sodium and nasty MSG, I recommend making your own dressing. Recipe modified from here.

Edited to add: I also wanted to mention that Jamie Oliver has won the TED Prize, and has made the wish: "I wish for your help to create a strong, sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again and empower people everywhere to fight obesity." I will talk about this more on a future Foodie Friday, but I would encourage you to watch his passionate and inspiring talk here.

More Art!

In addition to my husband's fabulous gifts, I also won a giveaway on Ms. Elsie Flannigan's blog, A Beautiful Mess. I was the happy winner of a free art print from Art Wall Online, which is a super fun site that is a "virtual display space created to exhibit the artwork of independent artists. The pieces are showcased in the form of an “Art Wall,” — an arrangement of artwork placed on a virtual wall." I think that is a totally unique concept to showing and selling artwork online, don't you? I got to choose from the many wonderful artists connected with Art Wall, and eventually selected a photographer I much admire, Alicia Bock. After much deliberation and waffling, I selected her "Bow" orchid TTV print. It is even more beautiful in person than on Etsy or seen here. Alicia also included a mini Polaroid print, which I also love. Aren't these beautiful? So dreamy. Thank you, Elsie and Art Wall!

Thursday Things : Birthday Presents

My husband bought me a few art prints off of Etsy for my birthday last month, and I thought I would share the amazing pieces he picked out. I might have hinted that I wanted something from Etsy, but I left it completely up to him to surprise me with whatever he'd like. I think he did a wonderful job, and I even ended up with an extra print thrown in by one of the artists. (This is why I love Etsy!) I have a horrible habit of buying art and stock-piling it, since framing can be so expensive. Not this time--I'm super excited that I also happened to get a gift certificate to a framing shop for Christmas, so I can actually get these prints framed an on display!



Top: "I'm Sorry But You Were Holding Me Back" (loooove that title!) on the right, and a free print of "A Grand Discovery," on the left, both by Danna Ray of Groundwork.

Bottom: "A Flock of Birds" by J.Z. Rozell.

Anthro Update

As I mentioned at the bottom of my last post on the Anthropologie displays, I questioned the intentions of the company in using the plastic bottles in their window displays. Yes, it is saving the plastic bottles from the landfills... for now. Once they are covered in paint, I wondered if that would remove the option of recycling the bottles, thus dooming them to landfills now covered in (potentially environmentally-harmful) paint.

My questions led me to email Anthro. I feel that companies that are trying to appear green should be held accountable so that their words are more than just marketing speak. (And I know marketing speak. I've been there.) I received a response within 6 hours of sending the email, which was very positive. And here's what I was told.

"We really appreciate your taking the time to write us. In regard to your concern, one of the things that, we hope, makes our windows and interior displays unique is that they are often made out of everyday items usually collected by the individual store teams. By using them in a new and creative way, we hope to give them a second or even third life as well as to point out the beauty in ordinary objects. This was the case with the beautiful flowers made out of ordinary plastic bottles. It is our intention to find a third life for these flowers by arranging for as many stores as possible to donate them to schools and non-profit groups in each of their local communities. We do not want any of them, or any display items in general, to be thrown out!
We already had a request from the Texas Recycling Association for some of the flowers. If you have any suggestions of groups who might like some, we would love to get the names from you. Some of our best ideas for community partnerships have come from our customers."

I know many other stores will give their displays to eager hopefuls. Target, for example, has a waiting list for their popular holiday displays. I have no knowledge of whether individual Anthro stores regularly receive requests for their window displays as the email suggests. But I do feel that Anthro could do a little bit more to ensure the displays get their "third life," in the words of the Anthro representative above, rather than relying on customers to set up community partnerships for them. I think it is up to companies to be as responsible and "green" as they are trying to market themselves to be, even if it costs the company a little more money to execute their programs. [Snark: You think that Anthro could afford it, given that they charge $85 for a t-shirt.]

So I suppose one lesson can be: If you like the Anthro displays, just ask your local store if you can have it when they take them down!

Photo is from the Anthro Flickr stream found here.

Anthro Inspo

Isn't Anthropologie the most inspiring store EVER? If I wasn't so afraid of working in retail after a wretched stint in an awful women's chain, I would say a dream job of mine would be to become a window display designer/visual merchandiser for Anthro. I'm sure it's much more glamorous in my head than in real life, but that won't stop me from dreaming of surrounding myself with coffee filters and old water bottles and twigs, and--like a beauty-seeking McGyver-- whipping together a magical and dreamy display.

According to Anthro's recent email newsletter "In Our Own Words," all their stores are using cut recycled bottles to make beautiful flowers. A visit to the store might be in order to view the windows.


Of course, the cynic in me wonders if the plastic-bottles-now-flowers are no longer recyclable if they are covered in pastel paint. Don't you think they'll just end up in the landfill after the season is over? The newsletter points out how Anthro is helping to keep thousands of bottles out of landfills, but their newsletter doesn't point to what will be done with the displays later. Just something to think about...

Photos are from the Anthro Flickr stream found here.

My Favorites from Minted

A few posts ago, I shared my submissions for the Minted "Good Housekeeping Personal Stationery Challenge." Since voting is now open, I thought I would share my own favorites among the submissions. [And of course, I would love if you would vote for my submissions as well. :) Thank you!] Picking my favorites has reminded me of how "varied" my tastes are (read: all over the freakin' map) -- I like bold graphics, vintage styling, distressed type and backgrounds, feminine touches. Not all at the same time, of course. All the designs shown below can be found on the voting page, and credits are at the bottom of this post.









Credits: "The Side Street" by Andres Montaño, "Zen Pebbles" by Amy Sheridan, "Classic Monogram" by Annie Clark, "McGraw" by Sarah Lenger, "Say Hello Your Way" by Gakemi Art + Design, "Grunge Label" by Dish + Spoon, "Chef's Notes" by . design lotus ., "Lemon Lace" by Laura Hankins, "Poppy Field" by Kelli Hall.